A Brazilian Supreme Court judge listed Elon Musk as a target in an ongoing fake news investigation, and opened a separate investigation into the US executive for obstruction.
In his decision, Judge Alexandre de Moraes noted that Musk on Saturday began waging a public “disinformation campaign” regarding the Supreme Court proceedings, and that Musk continued the next day — most notably with comments that his social media company X would cease complying with his decision. Court orders blocking certain accounts.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who acquired Twitter in late 2022, accused de Moraes of suppressing freedom of expression and violating the Brazilian constitution, and noted on X that users could seek to bypass any shutdown of the social media platform using VPNs. Or virtual private networks.
Musk will be investigated for intentional criminal use of The new investigation will look into whether Musk was involved in obstruction, criminal organization and incitement.
“Brazilian obstruction of justice, incitement to crime, public threat to disobey court orders, and lack of future cooperation from the stand are facts that disrespect Brazil’s sovereignty,” De Moraes wrote on Sunday.
X's press office did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press, and Musk had not commented publicly as of Monday morning, other than brief posts about X.
Brazil's political right has long described De Moraes as overstepping his bounds to suppress freedom of expression and engage in political persecution. In the digital militia investigation, lawmakers from former President Jair Bolsonaro's circle were jailed and the homes of his supporters were raided. Bolsonaro himself became a target of investigation in 2021.
Justice in March 2022 ordered the closure of the messaging app Telegram across the country on the grounds that the platform repeatedly ignored requests from Brazilian authorities, including a police request to block profiles and provide information linked to blogger Alan dos Santos, an ally of Bolsonaro accused of spreading lies. Dos Santos' account is one of the accounts banned on X in Brazil. Less than 48 hours after issuing his order in 2022, de Moraes said Telegram had complied and allowed it to resume operations.
De Moraes' defenders said his decisions, while unusual, are legally sound and necessary to cleanse social media of fake news as well as eliminate threats to Brazilian democracy – highlighted by the January 8, 2023 uprising in the Brazilian capital that resembled the 8 January 2023. January 6, 2021, Insurrection at the US Capitol.
“Judicial decisions can be appealable, but willful non-compliance is never permissible,” Luis Roberto Barroso, president of the Supreme Court, said in a statement on Monday.
On Saturday, Musk — a self-proclaimed supporter of free speech — said on X that the platform would lift all restrictions on banned accounts, predicting that the move would likely dry up revenue in Brazil and force the company to close its local office.
“But principles are more important than profit,” he wrote.
Brazil is an important market for social media companies. About 40 million Brazilians, or about 18% of the population, access X at least once a month, according to market research group Emarketer.
Musk later instructed users in Brazil to download a VPN to retain access if X is shut down and wrote that X would publish all of De Moraes' demands, claiming they violate Brazilian law.
“These are the harshest demands of any country on Earth!” He wrote later.
The Brazilian constitution was drafted after the military dictatorship of 1964-1985, and contains a long list of ambitious goals and prohibitions against specific crimes, such as racism and, more recently, homophobia. But freedom of expression is not absolute.
Musk had not posted De Moraes' demands as of Monday morning and prominent banned accounts remained so, suggesting that X has yet to act on Musk's previous pledges.
De Moraes' ruling warned against doing so, saying that every blocked account that X reactivates would incur a fine of 100,000 Brazilian reais ($20,000) per day, and those responsible would be held legally accountable for disobeying the court order.
“Including Elon Musk in the digital militia investigation is one thing. Banning X is another. However, [De] “Moraes nods that he has not remained inactive amid Elon Musk’s provocations,” Carlos Afonso, director of the Rio de Janeiro-based Research Institute of Technology and Society, said by phone from Washington. “It's a warning shot so lines don't get crossed.”
Afonso, a civil rights professor at Rio de Janeiro State University, was on Monday attending a symposium at Georgetown University Law School on the business climate and legislation in Brazil, and said the implications of de Moraes' decision for Musk and X were “the talk.” For the city.” Afonso also wondered what this dispute might mean for Musk's Starlink satellites, which provide internet service to remote Brazilian areas such as the Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal wetlands.
Bolsonaro – who awarded Musk a prestigious medal when he visited Brazil in 2022 – was among those who encouraged Musk to follow through on his promises to release the documents, saying they would reveal how the Supreme Electoral Court was pressured to interfere in the 2022 elections he had pledged. Lost. Bolsonaro has often made such claims, without any evidence.
“Our freedom today is very much in his hands,” Bolsonaro said of Musk in a live social media broadcast Sunday night. “The action he's taking, what he's saying, he's not been intimidated, he's going to bring up the idea of fighting for freedom for our country. This is good.”
The House lawmaker in charge of handling the bill aimed at setting rules for social media platforms told Channel X that the incident highlighted the urgent need to put the proposal to a vote. It was approved by the Senate in 2020. The Brazilian Attorney General on Saturday night had already expressed his support for the regulation.
“We cannot live in a society where billionaires residing abroad control social networks and put themselves in a position to violate the rule of law, fail to comply with court orders and threaten our authorities. Social peace is non-negotiable,” Jorge Mesías wrote on the X website.
Alexandre Padilha, the institutional relations minister in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government, wrote on Monday that the administration will support the Supreme Court and its investigations, and will work with Congress and civil society to build a regulatory framework.
Beller and Sa Pessoa write for The Associated Press. Sa Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo. AP video journalist Tatiana Polastri contributed to this report.
